Ports expand to grow

LONG BEACH - Officials hope efforts to modernize the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will keep the ports competitive and increase the workforce by 1.3 million new jobs by 2030.

Robert Kanter, director of environmental affairs and planning for the Port of Long Beach, said this week the ports - with the new projects completed - could handle 36.7 million cargo containers per year, compared with the 11.5 million cargo containers now handled at the ports.

"It's huge," he said Thursday. "That's why we're sensitive to losing any cargo."

Improvements already under way are designed to keep the region competitive, including plans to speed loading of cargo onto trains, eliminate bottlenecks and increase capacity.

Kanter said port planners are aware that expansion of the Panama Canal could cut cargo business by 25 percent at the twin Los Angeles- Long Beach ports, which handle 40 percent of the nation's imported Asian cargo.

The more than $5 billion widening and deepening of the Panama Canal, forecast for completion in 2014, would allow huge freighters to bypass West Coast ports and head directly to terminals on the Gulf and East coasts.

"That's a challenge we've been aware of for a few years," Kanter said. "We haven't been sitting on our hands."

To maintain a competitive edge, Kanter said the Port of Long Beach has invested about $4 billion in infrastructure improvements at the complex, including replacement of the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge, adding truck lanes to the Long Beach (710) Freeway and expanding rail lines at the port, and launching major upgrades of the 1950s- era marine terminals.

The ports also benefit from a positive feature of nature - deep offshore waters, which are needed by the giant cargo ships. Not all ports enjoy that feature, Kanter said, adding that good weather keeps ships from battling rough seas.

A strong workforce - more than 500,000 people work directly or indirectly in Southern California's cargo handling - is also a plus for the ports, Kanter said.

"All of these things are critical to keeping ships coming here," he added.